Hail India! 20/20 Champions

Its 1.30am in Melbourne, India have just edged out arch-rivals Pakistan to win the inaugural 20/20 World Cup. What a see-saw battle, ending only when Pakistan's lone saviour Misbah Ul Haq attempted a fatal chip shot with victory in sight. In 1983, I was all of 5 years and too young to comprehend the famous victory at the 83 World Cup. Including that game India have played 9 finals in tournaments involving 5+ teams, winning only 3 the last time being in 1993 in the famous Hero Cup win in Kolkata. What I've just witnessed is one of the best ODI finals in recent history, given the damp squibs the last few World Cup finals have been. India triumphed relying mainly on self-belief and casting off doubts about their inexperience in this format. A new captain, the return of a few old stalwarts and some fresh blood undoubtedly helped to a large extent. Truly after ages we've seen a superstar Indian team rather than an Indian team of superstars. That the two teams played this encounter in the true spirit and hugged and complimented each other after the game only gladdened the heart at the end. September 24th will go down as the day India rediscovered its fighting spirit and started to write a new script that will define its cricketing future for years to come. Who would have thought an event in another continent would give me my happiest day yet in Australia. Good night.

The Passover - the day Federer beat Sampras at Wimbledon

A few days after Roger Federer beat Pete Sampras in the 4th round of Wimbledon 2001 he received a suprise call from Bjorn Borg. The Swedish legend thanked Federer for stopping Sampras and thus preserving Borgs record of 5 consecutive titles. The final scorecard that afternoon read 7-6, 5-7, 6-4, 6-7, 7-5, astonishing given that it came on the 19- year-old Swiss player's debut on Centre Court. Sampras on the other hand was a 7-time winner, looking for his 100th straight win on grass and 5th consecutive title and was already on a 31 match winning streak at Wimbledon since July 96. Comparisons between Borg, Sampras and Federer are inevitable especially as grass court champions, but I'd opt for Sampras simply because he had to ward off tougher grass court opposition for his titles. From 1993 to 2000, his glory years he played Courier,Ivanisivec(twice),Becker,Agassi,Pioline,Rafter - all worthy grass court opponents in the finals. Six years since July, 2001 Federer himself threatens Borgs record. The great Swede himself has said, "I think and hope that Roger will equal my record this year - it could not happen to a better person". This year his toughest opponent appears to be Roddick in the semis, someone he's already routed twice in the finals and destroyed at the Aus Open in Jan. The question then is not when but how many Wimbledons will Federer win from here.

All-time great sports movies

Presenting here my own selection of great sports movies, that I have seen myself but presented in no particular order. If you have a movie title that I've missed please leave a comment. I have intentionally left out full-on comedies like Happy Gilmore or great films like Million Dollar Baby where sports is a relatively side theme.
1. Raging Bull - Robert De Niro stars as middleweight boxing champ Jake LaMotta
2. Bull Durham - 1988 American movie about love and baseball stars Kevin Costner
3. Chariots of Fire - The true story of two British athletes preparing for and competing in the 1924 Summer Olympics, one Jew and one devout Catholic.
4. Remember the Titans - Denzil Washington as Hernan Boone a black football coach of an integrated college team.
5. Seabiscuit - Story of a champion racehorse in Depression Era USA in the 1930's
6. The Color of Money - Tom Cruise, Paul Newman in a classic about pool & hustling
7. Ali - Will Smith is at his best in a movie that recreates Ali's best fights and his life
8. Escape to Victory - Film about Allied POWs, coached by Michael Caine who agree to play an exhibition match against the Nazis. Also stars Stallone and soccer star Pele.
9. When we were Kings - The the best documentary ever made about Ali focuses on the Rumble in the Jungle bout with Foreman in Zaire.
10. Rocky - Stallone stars as amateur boxer Rocky Balboa who becomes Champion. Spawned 5 sequels and the classic track 'Eye of the Tiger'
Other notable films are, A League of Their Own, White Men Can't Jump, The Hurricane
Cinderella Man and The Champ

Why women need to know (more) about Cricket

..So the wretched cricket world Cup has ended but if all you women think the worst is over, you are mistaken. For though India crashed out early, the coach of the neighboring country got murdered and we got beaten by two minuscule neighbors, I can guarantee your partners, fathers and boyfriends will be in front of the idiot box again come the next series. The unfortunate incident of Mandira Bedi defaming the Indian flag once again lowered the already dim perception of the average Indian woman's cricketing acumen. So how do you beat them at their own game? Well for starters educate yourself on the finer nuances of the game. Learn the fielding positions, arm yourself with stats and most importantly pick a team other than India to infuriate your partners. I'm not suggesting you switch allegiances forever but if you had picked a team like SriLanka before the World Cup that would have shamed your male counterpart's armchair predictions. Most men regurgitate borrowed knowledge they pick up from cricinfo and rediff cricket channel. But being primitive, they lack the brain power to sift through data the way women are more equipped to do. While India has a few quality journalists like Sonali Chander (NDTV), Sharda Ugra (India Today) and Kadambari Murali (Hindustan Times), this list needs to be substantially longer. Surely if Indian television can accommodate the likes of Chetan Sharma, Madan Lal and Kris Srikkanth, a few beautiful and intelligent women with a fresh perspective couldn't fare much worse. So good luck with your endeavours ...in the meanwhile I will go back to my favourite issue of Maxim and study Mandira Bedi's views on cricket.

Australia wins the World Cup (again) ...yawwwwwwwwwwnnn

Its 8.14am in Melbourne and Australia have triumphed for the third time in the World Cup. Aleem Dar and Steve Bucknor are insisting the game's not over since 3 overs remain. Another pig-headed decision by the ICC means that SriLanka will bat out the remaining overs in light that is best suited for an evening tea-party not a cricket final. Before this Australia decimated the SriLankan bowlers in the morning and then polished off their middle-order with some tight bowling. Most of the cricketing world would have been supporting a SriLankan but that man Adam Gilchrist again played like he had God batting for him. On one hand we marvel at how bloody good this Australian team but we also wonder where cricket heads from here. A dominant unbeatable team now holds all the major titles, has won in every cricket playing country and has an abundance of talent for another decade. I propose we do away with this farce of Australia playing in tournaments and beating everyone silly. Let’s have a World Test and ODI Series over 4 years where all teams bar Australia play each other and the winner then plays Australia at the end of it. At least we'll see more even matches and we'll have to bear Australia crush opposition only once in 4 years. If there's any consolation McGrath and Warne are gone forever ...maybe India can win something when they go down to Australia later this year.

Why SriLanka Must Win The World Cup

Two years ago I was lucky enough to spend a fortnight in Colombo and Dambulla during a triangular in the Emerald Island closely observing the start of SriLankan cricket’s revival under their new coach Tom Moody. That tournament victory sparked an enthralling run by the SriLankans that has taken them back to the cricket World Cup final, one game away from usurping the old enemy Australia again. So just why is it more important for SriLanka to win than for Australia to complete cricket’s first World Cup treble. Some may accuse me of a sub continental and personal bias having long since adopted SriLanka as my honorary second nation. But biases aside ... Cricket desperately needs a new champion team, one that can rule for the next four years, winning on the field but also bringing in new audiences to the game. One suspects that Australia with their all conquering stint and tasteless sledging seemed to turn off both purists and casual spectators - many tired of their one sided conquests and boorish on-field behavior. In any case Australia have won the World Cup prize twice and a loss in their third final will not diminish but only add to their legend just as Bjorn Borg's loss did in his last Wimbledon final. While South Asian teams have reached the final in the last 4 editions they have suffered embarrassing losses to Australia the last two times. If Srilanka goes on to win on Saturday, slaying the Australian dragon it will go a long way in restoring some sub continental pride. Finally SriLanka must win because that beautiful nation and its ever smiling inhabitants deserve a bit of providence and success on the cricketing field where they come to forget the strife that frequently engulfs their tiny nation. Not only will Jayawardene's Army be perfect ambassadors for the game, rest assured they will be far better behaved than their predecessors as a certain Mr.Sharad Pawar will testify. Come April 28, I hope Percy that undoubted talismanic figure and enigmatic #1 fan of SriLankan cricket will be all celebratory smiles and holding aloft his SriLankan flag with pride.

Chappell Vision - Lost in Transalation?

In his ground-breaking book 'The Making of Champions' Greg Chappell puts forth a thorough thesis on his viewpoint of what he believes are essential requirements to be a successful cricketer. He does this by dissecting the characteristics of a select group of 20 cricketers from the modern era. In doing so he breaks down cricket into more of an intelligent science than a skillful art relying heavily on terms such as kinetics to explain his viewpoint. It is not surprising then to imagine that such lofty principles and process driven terminology would be above the comprehension of the average Indian cricketer. Many of today’s crop hail from middle class non-English speaking backgrounds, having learnt their skills in the many maidans and gullies that dot the country. A large proportion of India's national players today come from the smaller centers like Baroda and UP and one wonders if Chappell’s theories would make any sense to them. Unlike the Australian cricketer, an Indian cricketer has other pressing matters on his mind, like handling fame, regional politics, a fanatic fan base and zealous journalists. Also Indians are essentially bad learners once they have reached a comfort zone and/or tasted success. When Chappell took over the team, it consisted of senior players who had just tasted success reaching the World Cup Finals, and scoring creditable test victories in Australia and Pakistan. It is not surprising that these senior players resented being denigrated in the national media by their new coach for weaknesses that the previous placid coach had overlooked for much of his tenure. Perhaps Chappell’s only fault then was serving up an unpalatable menu that offended his wards tastes. Ten years from now Chappell may regret that while he got the message right, he might have considered toning down the delivery to suit his audience.

Indian Sporting Excellence - The Impossible Dream?

Are we destined to perennially be disappointed at major sporting events. As Indians we've all become immune to our sporting heroes falling short when in sight of glory. Our cricket team underperforms in ODI finals, Anju Bobby George fails in the Athens Olympics, Leander and Bhupathi fail to win at the Olympics. These of course are only a few instances that come to mind. If our sportspersons were 'minnows' and lacked world-class skills we would perhaps not be dismayed at these outcomes. But when they fail to perform to their own potential or match their past performances it surely is indicative of something deeper. My hypothesis is that our sportspersons fall short on two counts - a) big match temperament and b) failure to push them to the limit. Perhaps as Indians we are conditioned to be content with being good since being great would involve hardship, tough training routines and injury risk. We are masters at winning sporting events, when we can lead from the front or have conditions in our favour. Not for Indians a come from behind victory. While for a team like Australia, a match is never over till the last ball, for us a few early wickets is the end of the game and a license for the remaining players to capitulate. Why is it that we celebrate individual records and minor achievements with so much fervor when other nations put more emphasis on team victories and winning at major events like the Olympics? Two years ago Sania Mirza was feted for merely reaching the 2nd round of the Australian Open while at her age Maria Sharapova was winning Wimbledon and was just one of many Russians in the top 100. So do we have the guts ...nay the courage to set our sights higher, to put in the extra hours of training, to learn new skills? And more importantly can we start to question our god-like sportsmen and challenge them to superhuman heights that befit a nation of 1 billion.

India exit cricket World Cup

In an anti-climatic end, the Indian team has crashed out of the Cricket World Cup. A team that until a year ago was being touted as the only one capable of overcoming Australia lost easily to its two smaller neighbors SriLanka and Bangladesh. As a young kid, I watched Arjuna Ranatunga adopt defensive tactics in game after game as he knew his team was no match for India's might. A decade later the same team now erupts with glee every time they force a collapse and usurp their bigger neighbors in a crunch game. As an Indian fan, the lingering memory will not be the loss to Bangladesh as will be the sight of my heroes from a decade ago struggle against inexperienced bowlers who weren't even playing cricket when India were in the finals of the last World Cup. To see bowlers like Mortaza, Asif and Malinga regularly castle Sachin Tendulkar's middle stump is deflating to the morale. Starting late 2005, this team had broken new ground and given hope of a stronger mental mindset if not a second World Cup trophy. A 17-match victory streak while chasing, the discovery of a genuine all-rounder in Irfan Pathan, the appointment of legendary Greg Chappell as coach all gave rise to visions of a new meaner Indian team winning more than in the past. Alas it seems that ever present Indian frailty to crumble in crunch situations proved to be the weak link. Perhaps we should be picking players who measure up on this parameter rather than on pure runs volume in our meaningless domestic tournament.